Abstract
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The local governance of small municipalities that have less than 5,000 inhabitants in many respects experiences a challenging position in comparison to the local government of big cities including capitals, but also toward the regional and national governments. They are seen to have little capacity in terms of public officials, finances and other means and are often thought to be unable to handle the complex issues facing local governments nowadays. They often also lack opportunities for employment, access to higher education, cultural life, sport facilities, a modern infrastructure, or access to advanced health care and care for elderly, and sometimes even supermarkets,
On the other hand, their governance is close to the citizens, they experience limited ethnic diversity. It is observed that e.g., suburbs that can be also perceived as small towns but they belong quite frequently to an agglomeration or a metropolitan area, have quite easy access to facilities typical for big cities and only by that suburbs are more attractive for young people in comparison to other small towns located farther from large cities.
The challenges faced in such hamlets, are among others, depopulation, greying of their population, and probably, increasing municipal debts.
The paper we propose to write gives an overview of what is known about the issues and challenges small municipalities face, their causes and impacts. The research question asked is, what is known about the implications of being a little town, in terms of its functions, challenges it faces, it’s administrative dilemmas with regard to intergovernmental relations, it’s governance, organizational structure, leadership and management, and policy making.
The core of this paper is a literature review on small towns in West, Central and East Europe. It will be structured along the lines of socio-economic context, political-administrative relations, policy development, organization, and governance.
Beforehand it is unknown what really distinguishes the governance of small towns from the governance of big cities. The purpose of this research is to identify research gaps in our knowledge about the governance of small towns.
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